You’ve probably heard early risers rant about how great it is to be up early.
How they feel like they have a much better day, get so much more done, set their day up for productivity, and more than that, how it creates a better mindset and perspective to carry them through all day long.
But in your head, you’re thinking, but how do you do it?
How do you pull yourself out of bed that early, every single day (and be happy about doing it!), let alone do so with the energy to work out or tackles hard tasks.
If you’re ready to make it happen, here’s what you need to know:
Do your prep work – Don’t think that a successful morning happens naturally. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Those people who you see who are having amazing, early mornings, do the work to get there. This means prepping things like clothes and lunch the night before, or even doing stuff on the weekend – like laundry, and prepping meal ingredients – to ensure everything runs smoothly in the morning. If you want to be able to have productive mornings, doing your workout, getting some work in, or even having time to meditate and do your yoga, you have to plan on having productive evenings.
Awaken naturally - one of the best things you can do for your morning routine is to establish a natural body clock and sleep cycle that allows you to wake up without an alarm clock. Called our circadian rhythm, we can easily train the body to sleep and wake at specific times. This encourages the body to wake up at the end of a sleep cycle as opposed to being interrupted in the middle like being awoken by an alarm clock. In addition, waking at the end of a sleep cycle makes you feel less groggy and tired when you wake up.
Set a positive intention - Starting the day with negative thoughts, ruminating over relationship issues from the night before, or getting caught up in something that is causing you worry and anxiety is not a good way to start out the day. How you start your day sets the theme for how the day will unfold, and your mindset and attitude over this go a long way in getting things off to a good start. Take a few moments soon after you get up to sit with your thoughts and generate a positive intention or a positive theme for your day that can ground you throughout.
Get active - Doing physical activity first thing in the morning stimulates then release of endorphins from your brain, which are the feel good chemicals. If you start with the release of these first thing in the morning, research has shown that this feel good attitude stays with you all day long. Not to mention, when you exercise in the morning and get it done, you are less likely to make poor health and food choices throughout the rest of the day, as you already feel like you have something to lose fro your early morning efforts.
By: Bethany Barich
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